Heiligerian Calendar

The Heiligerian Calendar is the calendar used by the Unified Provinces of Grouce, and is based upon the divinities of the Servants of Heiliger. The calendar has 13 months; one named for each of the world gods. Each month consists of three weeks and a festival day. The festival day is the last day of the month and celebrates the gods that the month is named after. The weeks are 13 days long and each day is named after one of the phases of the Heiligerian creation myth.

New year begins with the beginning of the planting season. The season continue through a long rainy season. The rainy season ends and gives way to the harvest season where crops are collected and stored. The year ends with a brief and dry winter season.

Nomenclature

Order of the months and pronunciation:

Month	Pronunciation
Leben	LEE-ben
Hain	HINE
Licht	LEECHT
Wesen	WESS-en
Donner	DAW-ner
Berg	BERG
Jahr	YAR
Flanze	FLANZ
Meer	MEER
Zufalig	ZOO-fall-egg
Dunkel	DUN-kel
Schick	SHEEK
Friedhof	FREED-hof

Order of the Days of the week and pronunciation:

Day	Pronunciation
Recht	RITE
Ernte	ER-ent
Basteln	BAST-eln
Magie	MAH-gee
Kunst	KOONST
Gemein	goo-MINE
Zunei	ZOO-nee
Reise	REE-zah
Handel	HAAN-del
Krieg	KREEG
Hingab	HIN-gab
Vergan	VER-gan
Betrunk	BEH-trunk

Dates are read as |cycle| |day| of |month|. For example, the second day of the first month would be said as "The first Recht of Hain", or simply "First Ernte" if the month was obvious. The third day of the second week of the third month would be said as "The second Krieg of Licht".

The only other distinction that is important to date keeping is are the suffixes applied to the year: AU (After Unification) and BU (Before Unification). These allow the years of Grouce to be tracked using the end of the War of Unification as "year zero".

For clerical puroses where writing out dates long form may not be space efficient, please refer to ABSM-8601.

Festival Days

THESE NEED TO BE UPDATED (4/18)!!!!!

Confluence of Leben

Theme/ Superstition

Planting Season, new year new life. Things started during this month are considered lucky.

Leben starts the year, and with it starts new chances. As with the birth of mortals from Leben being a sign of great luck, that which mortal beings start during this month are considered lucky. After the festival of Friedhof puts relationships to rest Leben starts them anew. Cultivating in a time to celebrate the arts and the beauty of the world. Weddings are also common during the month with the most common day for marriages off the year being on the Confluence.

Festival

Artisan Festival, Many marriages happen

Leben festival is among the most popular as she is the mother of mortals and one of the most widely worshipped gods of the pantheon. Many will worship during this time by celebrating children and the young. This month is often for coming-of-age ceremonies and new business deals.

Each region will celebrate this festival differently. Oosterhof, for example, commonly hold a major feast where in many of the guilds of the city will promote members and celebrate new recruits to the guild.

Confluence of Hain

Theme/Superstition

Exploration and new development. Crops planted this month will survive

Hain is the month of exploration and new growth. As Hain is the god of the wilds the month of his name focuses on the natural world. While Leben marks the end of winter and the beginning of the planting season, Hain is the time where the most crops are put into the ground. This is also a month for exploration and the confluence of Hain is a day often used to mark the beginnings of journeys.

Festival

Large hunts followed by large feasts.

Festivals to Hain stand to show the mortals abilities to survive against the wilds of the world. The festival day of Hain is a massive hunt and feast to celebrate that while the wilderness may be all around it is not unbeatable. Those who survive this month are given a burst of energy and faith that they will not fall to the world, but instead overcome the struggles that lie before them.

Oosterhof and the rest of Sherpburg are the most avid celebrators of the confluence of Hain. Each guild organizes hunting parties to pursue their preferred type of prey. The cities then hold massive feasts to celebrate the hunts and the warriors who stand against the wilderness which constantly encroaches upon the city.

Confluence of Licht

Theme/Superstition

Growth and prosperity. Only travel during the day

The month of Licht celebrates people’s accomplishments and growth through the year. People are encouraged to prepare for the road ahead. Those who are on journeys are reminded that while the path can be difficult, they have the strength to overcome it.

Festival

Sportsmanship and gaming festival.

The confluence of Licht comes during the beginning of summer. The festival of the Sun is a time to celebrate the strength of all beings, both physical and mental. The festival is a time to test one’s strength and celebrate the power of people.

Confluence of Wesen

Theme/Superstition

Fertility and kinship. No hunting for sport

The god of bests, Wesen, encourages animals to be treated fairly. Situated in the middle of the growing season, his month and confluence only serve to support these points. People pray to Wesen during his month that their herds will prosper and that family pets will be protected. It seen as uncouth to hunt for sport in this month. Instead, only the animals required for food or those who threaten people should be hunted.

Festival

Celebration of pets and work animals

Wesen’s festival is a time to celebrate the animals in people’s lives. Whether it is pets or farm animals, the confluence emphasizes taking time to thank them for their work and Wesen for providing them. Animals are put on altars and given extra love and attention as they are celebrated.

Confluence of Donner

Theme/Superstition

Monsoon season. A time for respect, retro/introspection. A day of rain is a day for rest.

During the rainy season, people are encouraged to stay indoors and hunker down to get through the storms. Both in life and in actual storms, Donner teaches that one must not be so concerned with accomplishing a goal that they get washed away. During the month of Donner, it is tradition to take a day of rest whenever it is raining. This month is often plagued by tropical storms and what starts as a light rain can quickly turn to a hurricane. A day of rain should not be used to work on projects outside the home but instead to rest and look inward at oneself.

Festival

A day of community rebuilding

The confluence of Donner is not so much a festival as it is a day of rebuilding. Communities come together after the rain has fallen and rebuild that which has been washed away. The day is often ended with a community potluck and where all celebrate getting through the storm season together.

The Confluence of Donner is celebrated most fervently in coastal cities.

Confluence of Berg

Theme/Superstition

Remembrance and Tradition. Follow in the steps of your ancestors.

Festival

A day spent remembering the fallen and ancestors.

Rather than a day of mourning the dead, as the festival of Friedhof is, this day is focused on honoring those who have come before.

The festival of Berg is one of the more lively festivals in Sherpburg, especially at guilds with high turnover. People will fill the streets and bars and drink heavily while toasting their lost comrades.

Confluence of Jahr

Theme/ Superstition

Harvest Season. Adaptability and growth. Focus on changing oneself for the better.

Festival

Day of rest

Confluence of Flanze

Theme/Superstition

Giving thanks and counting your blessings. Return a certain part of your crop to the earth for a better harvest next year

Festival

Harvest festival

Confluence of Meer

Theme/Superstition

Prosperity and trade. Give large tips in thanks for service

Festival

A day of giving and charity

Confluence of Zufallig

Theme/Superstition

Patients and control. Butterfly effect

Festival

Festivus (™)

Confluence of Dunkel

Theme/Superstition

Conservation and reverence. Only eat when the moon is out

The month proceeding the festival is marked by practitioners fasting during the day and only eating while the moon is out. For devote worshippers of the religion who follow her tenets of rest while she keeps watch, this month is a month of total fasting. Some sects will instead choose to allow priests to eat at both sunrise and sunset.

Many common folk will choose something to abstain from during this month. Some of the more devout among them will keep this up for the duration of the year.

The city of Eisenfel is perhaps the city where the festival is most deeply worshiped. As the city has been tied to creatures of the night being settled in the former castle of Baron Radu and his cabal of Vampires. The city has been home to Belap since Kain Ooster established the Sherpburg adventuring guild. As the Guild fights against creatures of the night they rely on Dunkel to give them light and guide them against the creatures who hide in shadow. The cities inhabitants will often fast for 8 days before the festival to celebrate the eighth God of the pantheon. To break the fast, they will have a feast and party that lasts from the time the sun sets to the time it rises celebrating the light of the night under her glory. If a servant of Dunkel is to ever break her tenet and be awake during the time the moon is up, is it is on the day of Dunkel's festival.

Festival

Festival of sacrifice

The Festival of Dunkel celebrates conservation and caution. The festival is celebrated at the beginning of winter and helps prepare festival goers for the coming scarcity that winter brings. Festival goers pay reverence to Dunkel and pray that she will look on them with compassion. To show their thanks for her sacrifice (allowing the moon to pull her from the material plane to keep it safe) worshipers will make sacrifices to her. For most, these offerings often takes the form of burnt offerings of food, made once the moon has risen. Churches and wealthy areas may make more significant sacrifices.

Confluence of Schick

Theme/Superstition

Dreams, fate, and spirituality. Great month for fortune telling and mysticism/divination

The month before the festival is rather normal for most people, but it is said that the month is the best for divination. Some believe that by making offerings to the Schick you can improve your fate for the year ahead. Another common belief is that the day of his festival is the only day you can travel to Sicherheit unharmed. However, the church refutes these rumors and tells people that Schick does not change his gaze at any time.

Dice and cards are sold almost everywhere in this month. Many people will huddle inside to spite the cold and make small bets on trivial things to pass the time.

Festival

Gambling/games of chance

Schick's festival centers around trusting fate that the gods will look upon you favorably. The festival takes place in the dead of winter and is meant to encourage them to have faith that the winter will break, and a new year will begin. Festival goers pray to Schick that they will have good luck in both that night and the year ahead. His clerics host gambling and games of chance as well provide fortune telling during the festival. It is customary to gamble with the fates during the festival and bet on one’s lot for the coming year. Whether it is business or life, those who seek luck on their side will often request that decisions be left to fate during this time.

Confluence of Friedhof

Theme/ Superstition

End of the Year and Closing/ Finality. Things that end this month are considered at rest

The month of Friedhof is a dreary one for most. As winter comes to an end the landscape looks it’s most bleak. The month is spent by those who wish to move on putting deals, contracts, and relationships to rest. Those who wish to renew old friendships or repair damaged reputations will often use the month to make amends before the year ends and so do the loose ends of the world with it.

Festival

Day of reconciliation

As the year comes to an end, the God of death Friedhof sees it off. The Confluence of Friedhof is not a large festival but instead a day of rest and a time to make peace with each other. While some communities will have a community meal or gathering it is even more common for families to celebrate in their own home, or in the home of others that they have made peace with. The day is often ended with worshipers making their way to the graves of they have lost in the past year and praying for their rest in Leben Noch.

The festival has a large presence in Sherpmel.

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